David Mackie
LightNews LightNews
banner
davidmontisi.bsky.social
David Mackie
@davidmontisi.bsky.social
130 followers 120 following 48 posts
Some time sculptor. Lives in the country.
https://davidmackie.it/

Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by David Mackie
runningredlights.bsky.social
Melbourne Cup is a mirror showing us who we are: a nation that glorifies gambling/binge drinking while pretending to stand for equality.

One that criminalises Aboriginal people for behaviour it celebrates in white crowds

Our hypocritical media treats one with disgust & the other as entertainment
November 9, 2025 at 12:25 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
ketanjoshi.co
notes on gatesnotes, in a thread

"A new way to look at the problem" - er, no, he's been running this line for DECADES

On the headline: you can absolutely guarantee anyone presenting themselves as telling tough, hard truths is about to deliver some self-aggrandising nonsense
A new way to look at the problem Three tough truths about climate What I want everyone at COP30 to know. Bill profile picture By Bill Gates published 1 day ago
October 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
australiainstitute.org.au
Did you see us today in The Canberra Times?

Australians have voted for climate action – add your name to our petition urging Murray Watt to actually strengthen our environmental laws and stop new coal and gas projects!

#auspol
October 27, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
richarddenniss.bsky.social
Feels like it might be time to say this again…
richarddenniss.bsky.social Dr Richard Denniss @richarddenniss.bsky.social · Jul 31
Time for your regular reminder that

A) the Coaltion’s feelings about climate are irrelevant for the next 3-6 yrs

B) how much you worry about the Coalition is up to you

C) the more you worry about the Coaltion’s irrelevant opinions the less pressure is on the ALP to stop approving new gas & coal
October 24, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
australiainstitute.org.au
“The government is cherrypicking available science in its attempts to reassure UNESCO enough is being done to address the destruction of World Heritage caused by the salmon industry.

"This is simply not the case."

-Australia Institute Tasmania Director Eloise Carr
#auspol @eloise-carr.bsky.social
October 23, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
greenj.bsky.social
I’m getting weary of this. This government is representative of what the people of this place want. The argument is with all of us. Turning it into a constant personalised political snipe belittles the nature of the problem.
nickfeik.bsky.social Nick Feik @nickfeik.bsky.social · 19d
Thanks to Murray and his ALP pals, weather reports like this will become increasingly scary and weird
October 22, 2025 at 7:50 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
johnfugelsang.bsky.social
The average age of U.S. homebuyers is now 56, up from 49 last year.

In 1981, the year trickledown economics began, it was 31.
October 21, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
bard.lahn.no
Al Gore at the Norges Bank climate conference just now: ”The fossil fuel industry is significantly more effective at capturing politicians than capturing emissions“
October 21, 2025 at 11:33 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
sonofdaveblues.bsky.social
So if Obama had posted a video of himself wearing a crown and dumping shit all over a MAGA rally, would it be funny?
No. And he would lose credibility as an intelligent serious politician.
The right can't joke, or make good music, or dance, or do anything well really, just take money.
October 20, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
sustainable2050.bsky.social
This graph says it all: instead of starting to go down, the *annual increase* of atmospheric CO2 is setting new records. We're making climate change worse at a record rate.
Turning this around should be our top priority, and it's not.
From: www.carbonbrief.org/met-office-a...
October 18, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
emilia-romanica.bsky.social
Iglesia de Santiago, Carrión de los Condes, Palencia (Castilla y León) 🇪🇸

emiliaromanica.com/2025/10/14/

📷 @emilia_romanica　
6 de septiembre de 2024
October 15, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
adaspota.bsky.social
Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge ~ Worse on the Way
(from Gonwards, 2012)
#NowPlaying #PeterBlegvad #AndyPartridge #MusicSky

Prescient song, fantastic film by Mitch Friedman🌟

youtu.be/1qHHTqPvA1w via @YouTube
WORSE ON THE WAY Peter Blegvad and Andy Partridge
YouTube video by Ape House
youtu.be
September 19, 2025 at 2:52 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
keithwdickinson.bsky.social
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
October 8, 2025 at 10:29 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
meidastouch.com
Can't we just get healthcare
September 28, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
alanallport.bsky.social
Thinking of pitching a book about US military history the thesis of which is that when America has won wars in the past it has had less to do with ‘warrior ethos’ than with some grown ups in charge who knew what they were fucking doing.

Apparently this is an urgent thesis to restate.
September 27, 2025 at 1:06 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
euanritchie.bsky.social
It's a sick, sick world where a genocidal war criminal who is wanted by the International Criminal Court can just visit the U.S., as they please, and yet innocent people are being denied entry, deported, or harassed and dragged off the streets and thrown into prison www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...
Netanyahu rails against foreign leaders as UN delegates walk out
Dozens of diplomats stage a walkout at the UN ahead of the Israeli prime minister's speech, as US President Donald Trump says: "I think we have maybe a deal on Gaza."
www.abc.net.au
September 27, 2025 at 3:20 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
beneltham.bsky.social
Just a reminder that no politician or bureaucrat has ever faced any charges for Robodebt
September 24, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
ketanjoshi.co
Inspired by this + fossil giant Eni's fusion investments to update my 'greenwashing habitable zone' conceptualisation of what techs seem to lend themselves to being the most useful for bullshitty climate delay

Welcome to the zone, fusion, you finally made the cut

Top right = The Altman Expanse
a map of greenwashing techniques, where the middle zone of cost and infeasibility is where the best greenwashing options are
September 23, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
catholickungfu.bsky.social
my shame is endless (Catholic)

my shame is endless + what the fuck are we doing dude (American)
September 23, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
bipolarguide.bsky.social
More Son of Dave.

music.youtube.com/watch?v=hsjc...
Harmonica Beatbox - Get You Back by Son of Dave
YouTube video by Son of Dave
music.youtube.com
September 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Reposted by David Mackie
mollyjongfast.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/video/opinio...
September 20, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
ketanjoshi.co
funny to see stuff like 'it's now about implementation' on Australia's 2035 target from the people who give me gritted-teeth death stares whenever I write about whether the Albanese government is *actually* cutting emissions at the rate required
September 20, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
tomquinn.bsky.social
What was disappointing is how tourism operators downplay the damage.

We heard things like 'dead coral is fertiliser for new reefs', 'colours in brochures are photo shopped' etc etc.

A better approach would be to say at the end of a trip, if you love the reef here are three things you can do etc.
A yellow tourist boat floating in the water.
September 19, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
pollytics.bsky.social
Australia has a climate change leadership problem, in that we should be showing the world how to do it because we are in the best position to do so. Our fossil fuel industry brings nothing to the national table. They are serial tax evaders, employ next to nobody, and suck up large tax expenditures.
September 18, 2025 at 7:13 AM
Reposted by David Mackie
polq.at
AI "companies with budgets orders of magnitude bigger than the public sector, run by man-children with massive egos betting the farm on making a God in a box chimera where all it can do is to bugger up higher education and people's ability to write things." - @mkblyth.bsky.social

Great interview 👇
I think it's a really interesting one is to think about the fact that while China continues to basically dominate sector after sector to invest in battery technology, etc. They've got an approach to Al, but they're not betting the farm on it. And the United States is betting the farm on it. And this is very different from what you usually do. Usually, what the United States does is run a kind of hidden developmental state through universities, through agencies like DARPA, Defense Advanced Research Projects. And then we make these things, and then they spill out into the private sector. And the great example is Mariana Mazzucotto did this in her book on the competition state. All the key technologies in the iPhone were basically made in public and private universities with federal money. And they had defense applications, and then Steve comes along, puts it in a shiny box, and changes the world. And this is very different. This is now where we've got these massive companies whose investment budgets are orders of magnitude bigger than anything that the universities could muster, or even the public sector would put out. And they're run by man-children with massive egos. So if you think about Meta, I mean Meta has squandered almost a trillion dollars on the metaverse. I mean, it's just bollocks, right? And they can't produce legs. And you have this incredible arms race for this thing called Generative AI, which is never going to happen. It's a complete chimera. It's almost a very Soviet way of thinking. It's like, if we have enough of a quantity of transformation, you get a quality of transformation. You're like, no, that's not how it happens. But nonetheless, we'll spend all this money on this sort of stuff in this insane arms race. And the people at the top still can't tell you what the final use case is. Meanwhile, China is just going sector after sector, let's do batteries, let's do this, let's do this. It really is the strange moment where the cult of the entrepreneur in the United States has blinded the country to what actually we need to do in long term investment. And we've bet the house all on this one critical technology, which as far as I'm concerned, all it seems to be able to do is to bugger up higher education and people's ability to write things. So that would be my side worry on top of all this stuff. But there's an aspect to that where the use of Al appears, if we look at this in terms of power. I have written about this actually for Drilled, where there is an extension to which Al, the next link in the evolutionary train from the way economic modeling was used to argue against doing anything about climate change, which was another Australian pioneering invention, by the way. You can see how the hype and the focus on artificial intelligence as a climate solution and as it will fix everything, it will create new materials, is very much a distraction and a very convenient way to turn people away from investing in and focusing on to just going all in on, you know, wind, solar, batteries, anything. Figure out sodium batteries, you get rid of the need for thermal protection, the cost of EVs dropped by 30%. It's very simple. It's not nearly as sexy as, we are making God in a box. And with that, that might be a good point to end on. Mark, thank you so much for taking the time to... We're making God in a box.
September 17, 2025 at 12:39 AM